Written by Miki Aihara English publisher Viz Media English magazine Shojo Beat Genres Romance novel, Drama | Published by Shogakukan Demographic Shōjo Magazine Cheese! | |
Original run December 22, 2006 – hiatus Publishers Viz Media (NA), Shogakukan Similar Backstage Prince, Crimson Hero, Beauty Pop, Imadoki!, High School Debut |
honey hunt camera shy yura q ta
Honey Hunt (ハニーハント, Haniihanto) is a shōjo manga series written by Miki Aihara, originally published in Japan by Shogakukan. The series began serialization in the manga magazine Cheese! in December 2006, with the first tankoban released June 26, 2007, and the latest (volume 6) on December 24, 2009.
Contents
Honey Hunt is licensed for English language release in North America by Viz Media. It premiered in Viz's monthly manga anthology Shojo Beat in the September 2008 issue. The first volume was released on April 7, 2009. As of November 24, 2009, Honey Hunt has gone on a hiatus.
Honey hunt cap 1 1 2
Plot
Quiet and unassuming Yura Onozuka lives in the shadow of her famous celebrity parents: Yukari Shiraki, a beautiful and talented actress, and Takayuki Onozuka, the first Japanese composer to win an Academy Award. When her mother coldly announces that she and Yura's father are getting divorced, and Yura learns that her mother has been sleeping with her best friend and crush, Yura feels abandoned and left alone by everyone around her.
Yura decides to become an actress with the goal of becoming a better actress than her mother so that she can show everyone that she is worth something as an individual, and not be judged a disappointment because she is continuously compared to her celebrity parents. Keiichi Mizorogi, a professional manager formerly employed by her father, scouts her to be an actress and aids her in her quest. Yura gradually develops the confidence to land the lead role in an upcoming television drama series. Along the way, Yura also gains the interest of two rising male idols - composer Q-Ta Minamitani, who first meets Yura when she is running away from her hotel during her parents divorce, and his twin brother Haruka Minamitani, a member of popular band Knights and the male lead of the drama Yura will star in.
Characters
The protagonist of series, Yura Onozuka is a quiet and unassuming person, who is a high schooler in her third year. She lives in the shadow of her famous celebrity parents: Yukari Shiraki, a beautiful and talented actress, and Takayuki Onozuka, the first Japanese composer to win an Academy Award. She is used to people trying to get close to her because of her famous parents. She is betrayed by her neighbor, best friend, and first love, Shinsuke, who she thought was the only one on her side, when she learns he is sleeping with her mother. With some help from others she decides to embark into the entertainment industry to get back at her mother. As Yura follows through with her journey as an actress, it is then when her before-unknown potential becomes evident.
Yukari is Yura's mother, a talented actress whose beauty conceals a selfish and cold personality. Though she publicly says that she and Yura are close and often spend time together, she is rarely at home and is very distant toward her daughter. She and her husband have mutually agreed to remain together only for their careers and divorce only when their extramarital affairs are exposed. She expresses no interest in being Yura's mother and belittles Yura's efforts to become an actress. It is eventually revealed that Yukari actually loves Takayuki and had been confident in her own beauty. After Yura's birth, Yukari became extremely jealous of how Takayuki gave all his attention to their daughter. She began to emotionally invest in remaining beautiful so that her daughter would never upstage her. When Takayuki only wanted bring Yura with him to New York, Yukari is deeply hurt and prevented him from taking Yura. She extends her efforts to keep Takayuki away from his daughter by lying to Yura that her father stayed away from home because he hated Yura.
Keiichi Mizorogi is Yura's manager, who used to manage her father. He is young, but he knows what he's doing as a manager. He knows show business like the back of his hand, and has the big production company,"Baisho Entertainment", behind him. While at the same time he's the president of the "Meteorite Productions". He has managed many award-winning celebrities, such as Yura's father. Because of his vast knowledge of the show-biz world, he knows exactly what he needs to do to have his talents go to the top. Yura likes to call him "Shachou", meaning "Boss". It is later revealed that Keiichi's feelings for Yura might be more than just a manager/employee relationship. This becomes evident when he starts to forbid the relationship between Q-Ta and Yura, claiming that it will hurt her future career, though he also secretly wants Yura to himself. He denies being jealous of Q-Ta, or having feelings for Yura, but his actions prove otherwise.
Q-Ta is a famous singer and composer for the band, Assha. His is a big fan of Takayuki Onozuka, Yura's father, and idolizes him. His real name is Kyuuta (久太); his nickname came from a meeting with Takayuki Onozuka, who mistakenly wrote "Q-ta" on an autograph when Q-Ta introduced himself. One of his songs, "Crystal", is the theme song for Yukari Shiraki's popular show The Moon's Waltz. He is nineteen years old and attends Tokyo University. Yura first meets Q-Ta in an elevator when she runs out of the hotel at which she was staying during her parents' divorce problems. When he finds out who Yura is, he tells her he wants to marry her so he can become her famous father's son-in-law, despite not actually liking Yura. Because of his supportive nature and kindness, Yura trusts him a lot. However, Q-Ta's feelings towards Yura are less certain, since Yura suspects he is using her as a way to get to her father. Yura steadily grows fond of him and wants to know more about him; however, Q-Ta becomes increasingly possessive of her and shows little genuine interest in learning what Yura truly wants.
Reception
Eva Volin of ICv2 said of volume 1, "There isn't anything here that you wouldn't find in any average to above average shojo manga." She also said, though, that volume one is too early to give an accurate review of the series, saying, "While I can't call volume one a powerhouse introduction, it is an effective set-up for the series and I'll be looking for volume two to see where the story goes." Anime News Network described the plot as "a transparent rip off" from Skip Beat!, but favorably compared Yura to Hatsumi of Hot Gimmick, a previous work by Aihara. Anime News Network applauds Aihara's restraint in the second volume, regarding her characterization to be improving. They especially enjoyed the addition to the cast of a rival to Yura's mother, saying it's rare to see an older woman in manga.